Apple’s next AirPods case could charge your iPhone or Apple Watch

A new patent filed by Apple has revealed a redesigned AirPods case that could be used to charge either an iPhone or Apple Watch wirelessly.

For many people, Apple’s AirPods represent a love it or hate it concept – though a new patent filed by the company could now help swing reception to the positive side of the scale.

According to a new patent filed at the United States Patent and Trade Office, Apple has developed a redesigned AirPods case with some new tricks up its sleeve. The first, which should come with the approval of swimmers and beach-goers everywhere, is that the company has developed a waterproof AirPods case.

That premise ties in quite nicely to the recent announcement of the swim-proof Apple Watch Series 2, given that the patent depicts a system wherein the AirPods case can be used to wirelessly charge either an Apple Watch or iPhone.

The patented AirPods case mentions that the design includes liquid-tight circuitry that is supposedly “resistant or impervious to liquid penetration.”

Given that the Apple Watch uses a contact pad to charge, this isn’t an especially exciting development – however, given that the iPhone has, since inception, relied on a cable to charge indicates that a future iPhone could come with wireless charging capabilities as has been rumoured in the past few months.

It could also be noted that Apple’s recent decision to join the wireless power consortium – the same group that espouses the Qi standard which is used by many mobile phones.